Planet Gand, Pef Empire, Outer Rim
25 BBY
My surviving Explorers have just returned from the Centrality, with two new hyperoutes, uncharted before. One of them is immediately put to use, linking Gand to Oseon and tripling our commerce overnight. The other route links Gand with Tund and will become important later.
And the Corps found a few routes to a couple nearby stars, though without life bearing planets. Then again, it's a big galaxy, a trillion stars and about 50 millions habitable planets. And with the Force messing around, most of those planets have already been discovered or had sapient species evolve.
We only have one other planet with trees and such, breathable atmosphere and all. And it's Findsman finder is now leading the Black ops, as my third Hand. That planet will stay secret, to be populated with force-sensitives in the future.
My new Hand received 10 females that I vetted to have force-sensitivity, and relocated his base of operation on the new planet.
And probably enjoying his harem, the lucky bastard.
But anyway, he deserves it. A secret planet is worth a lot. Especially if you want to create a new Force group, hidden from everyone else.
And he came up with the 3 female trick for the returning Findsmen, which also helped. And it appears most of the returning Gands came for the females and not for the ship I bought for them.
I'll have to start planning their birth rates though, since being partly insects, the Gand tended to lay tons of eggs.
Being limited by their small villages by the ammonia clouds, they tended to be quite spartan till now, crushing any single not perfect egg, but who knows, in the future they may become trillions, and the Dream become a nightmare.
"Emperor, your Voice has returned" Celine said softly, nodding towards the door.
Yeah, I kinda felt her from thousands of light years away.
The older woman with silver hair was likely Wialu. The male wasn't someone I recognized, and looked almost Persian by skin tone.
"Do I get a hug?" I asked Dora, and she rushed in my droid's arms.
My other Maids stared at us confused. Don't worry, you'll figure it out later.
"Hey Pef. I felt you strain, while coming back. You alright?" Dora whispered.
'Had a lot to do, and not enough hands' I replied, telepathically. Wialu raised an eyebrow, possibly detecting my sending.
The woman was a mystery, her mind cloaked in a thick layer of white mist. I could sense nothing from her.
The man, ah one of the rare male Fallanassi. Not fully trained yet. He was weirded out and somewhat scared.
"Esteemed colleague, please sit. Maids go back and study. Take the boy with you" I spoke at once, stepping off my throne and floating on a pillow at the base. I patted the pillow next to me and the woman smiled.
"All right. Go Tipagna, you came to see the galaxy after all. Don't mind me" Wialu spoke crisply, and the man ran after my maids.
"I want to stay as well" Dora said, a bit hesitant.
"You're the Voice, Dora. You can do whatever you like" I answered warmly, and watched her sit beside me and hug me with one arm.
"You're a strange droid Pef. Like those Iron Knights I heard of?" Wialu asked gently, gesturing at my Justice droids.
"No. I am human, just like you. Only immortal" I answered, opening my chest and revealing my naked crystal.
Damn woman examined me deeply, and I almost wished I wore underwear on my crystalline shape.
"A force imprint. And so powerful..." she whispered after a long time. The Force trembled slightly, as it always did when something important changed.
"Yes. It uses the precepts of Ordu Aspectu. And even better, if you need a human body, you can grow one and copy yourself on its mind. This will be my next project, once Gand is finished terraforming" I explained, starting the hologram of the planet, and the ongoing terraforming. A week or two, and the ammonia will be gone, except in a few deep canyons.
"Ordu Aspectu...they vanished millennia ago. Exterminated by the Jedi" she said, with a slight revulsion in her voice. Great, we think alike.
"Well then, it's time for the Jedi to end" I answered, offering my droid hand to shake on.
The woman smiled.
"I'll need a Voice" she answered, shaking my metal hand.
"I'll have to make you younger then. I bet you looked fabulous in your youth" I told her, baiting the pond.
"Tell me more" she said with a short laugh.
"Tomorrow. I bet you girls are tired from the trip. Go test my jacuzzi, and I'll see you for dinner" I told both of them, lifting them up along with their pillows and guiding them towards my apartment.
Wialu tested my telekinetic grip with some wonder, before sighing and sending a telepathic message.
'And I want everything you know. Damn Jedi, hiding everything' she complained.
'Wait till I drain some Sith then. I don't even have half'
'Huh. You're not a Sith?' Wialu wondered, possibly assuming any non-jedi was a dark jedi.
'The Sith are just crazy Jedi' I explained as I dropped both of them in the warm Jacuzzi tub.
"Come join us Pef" Dora yelled from the tub.
Hmmm. The droid chassis hosting my crystal would fry in water.
But, I could go naked. They both saw me nude already.
Planet Gand, Pef Empire, Outer Rim
25 BBY
Third month since becoming Emperor
In one hour the most important Council will start.
I have two Voices now, Dora, the green twi'lek and Lira, a Togruta, with red skin and racial white marks.
Lira had her own special trait, her Force aura infused with kindness, which made her easy to talk to. She was also quite smart and had a way with words, disarming conflict with the right words. Lira did it to keep peace in her former slave compound, but I suspected it would work great even at largest scale.
I selected my Maids to have at least a smudge of force-sensitivity, or the kyber crystal wouldn't bond.
Dora has co opted the other maids into changing my appearance. They're planning to install me in a protocol chassis. And paint it gold.
What's wrong with this chassis? Okay, it might be a dozen millennia old, and looks creepy. Guess I do need to look dressed as an Emperor. But 3PO? No way.
Wialu has returned to her planet, aboard our newly repaired cruiser and escorted by a frigate and 2 corvettes. When she returns, her order will be deposited in secrecy on the Sanctuary. A shipment of pit droids and other construction capable series has already landed and began constructing a spaceport and housing.
Organics need so many things just to survive. Keeping them alive and happy will be a pain. They also have families and kids. More joy. I hope they will fit in one cruiser.
Then again, hundreds of force-trained people. Once they learn most everything I know, they will be pretty strong.
But that will take years.
The gand Findsmen have become pretty effective, and stopped dying so much. Takes so much time to grow and train a new one. Or maybe the weakest ones died already. That would be ideal.
A few of the most, let's say reputed bounty hunters that returned, did so for the Dream, once they heard the planet was becoming green. Had to force myself to encourage grass and algae to grow like mad, just to make the planet appear green from orbit. Crops and trees will take much longer to grow.
But at least, I have now enough explosives to manufacture trillions of missiles. No more importing explosive ordnance, self-made missiles are the future.
"Emperor, we are ready to begin" Dora said with a slight cough. Right, enough musings.
"Honored Council, Hands, Voices and Maid I will reverse the order of business, as you probably want to hear about the Dream first. Gand is green. My mandate is over. Please decide now if I kept my word. Waiting a whole year to be kicked out from my job would suck"
"Erm. Sadly, we cannot let you go, Emperor Pef. This humble one would like to scold you a hundred years from now as well. And myself being able to make my new female happy has nothing to do with it, at all. Must be the teenage hormones." The elder Mujilik said politely, and sipped a gulp of super expensive Corellian brandy. His kidneys began working again then.
I moved my head from one council member to another, and stared at the newest additions. A female Findswoman, and a grizzled mercenary, who claimed he never abandoned his councilman post, just took a vacation, for 55 years.
"I heard you are a true Gand, Pef, not just adopted. Can you find my damn credit chip, I seem to have lost it..." the mercenary asked, partly as a test, partly joking.
However, let's try it. Trace on. Fix him in the force, trace his movements backwards...hmmm. The Gand had prostitutes? Learned a new thing today. The female was busy spending his credits, on another space station, buying a bunch of other females drinks.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"Your female friend you visited four hours ago is throwing a party in your honor, esteemed Findsman. And she brought 7 more of her female friends, possibly to sample your prowess. If you hurry, they're at the Hutt's Belly pub. If you don't, well...the credits are still well spent, it will just be another Explorer enjoying their favor..." I explained, trying to remain polite, while returning the favor of a joke.
The mercenary grumbled something and took off, heading towards nearest shuttleport, at a fast walk.
"Wait, you guessed right?" Celine asked, looking at me with some wonder.
"What do my esteemed council members think?" I asked the Findsmen.
"Aye. I did my own trace too. The credit chip is now inside the Hutt's Belly." Another Findsman said, snorting at the unsaid joke.
"A true Gand. We could use an immortal Gand. I say Aye!" another Findsman yelled, and the Force trembled slightly.
What? They really expected to kick me out next year?
"Aye!" the council yelled in unison.
"Soooo, I don't have to leave and be homeless again?" I asked confused. Well, faking it really well.
"Emperor Pef for life!" the female councilor demanded, pounding the table with her fist. Good girl, did exactly as I instructed her.
"Eh whatever, not like he will really live forever. It's just a title..." her father rumbled in his vocoder.
I waited for the acclamation to subside.
"All right then. The first act as my Immortal Emperor is the creation of a grand army. To secure our freedoms and properties, and to expand the empire throughout the galaxy. Any and every able body is thus conscripted. Organics and synthetic, male or female, young or old.
Esteemed council, I will let you in on the next target of our expansion. The Centrality. A decadent and isolated polity, with a mere thousands systems. I believe we may need 3 years to liberate them, and have their oppressed citizens join our Empire.
But, with me as your leader, it may only take two years" I proclaimed, floating my chassis a foot above the floor, and pointing at the ceiling.
"Immortal Pef, will set us free!" Dora exclaimed standing up and punching the sky too. Good girl.
One after another, the council rose and punched the sky.
The Pef Wars have begun!
Planet Gand, Pef Empire, Outer Rim
25 BBY
In orbit, aboard the imperial space station the Celestial Throne
"And then, I told them to shove their sabers up their droid's asses, climbed back in my ship and came back. Crazy droids everywhere!" Vette concluded her story. She looked wonderful now, in a hi-tech power armor, with personal shield even, and about 24 weapons on it. That armor must have costed its weight in gold.
"So, you failed. Why do I get such poor luck, to have an incompetent Maid, and one that doesn't even care about me..." I proclaimed, slapping my droid's head dramatically. My other Maids frowned, looking up from their pads at the dingy sound.
"There, there." Vette replied, patting my shoulder with a distracted aura. "They said they wanted to speak with you personally. Maybe you'll have better luck" Vette added, while removing her helmet and taking out a last model of datapad.
I confiscated it with telekinesis, and started removing the hidden backdoors placed inside the Hutts.
"Hey, give it back, you metal head. This is the latest model from Corellia!" Vette yelled, jumping up and down petulantly.
"Shuush, adored Maid. You heard of cyber intrusion and hacking, right?" I replied, copying the latest variants of cyber warfare and adding them to my inventory.
"Oh. Fix my armor too then. Half of the helmet is also just computers" the blue twi'lek said, after deliberating inside her leku for a minute.
Oh, don't worry. A state-of-the-art Techno Union armor, bought for 5 million credits? It wasn't just a gift.
I will reverse-engineer it, and mass produce it for my army. And 24 different types of personal weapons too.
"Take it off and go see if you like the jacuzzi I built. Dora said it felt better than having sex" I told her, with a slight hook. Dora nodded absently from her pillow, and Vette raised an eyebrow. Then again, her experiences would have been forceful and not consensual at all.
"I wouldn't know, would I? Your crazy Gand had me digging through the dirt with a pointy stick. I wasn't a high class dancer like Dora. By the way, I rescued a few slaves, can I keep three or four for my special project?" Vette wondered, now clad in just a form fitting jumpsuit. Really form fitting. Special project eh?
"Our Empire doesn't have slaves, you should know that. And our Imperial Servants choose their own lovers, if they want any. Plus, you kinda belong to me, adored maid. Body and soul, for eternity" I mused out loud, picking up the helmet and starting to decrypt its functions.
"Not fair! I have to wait till you build yourself a flesh body? That could take years! Start working on that sooner!" Vette yelled as she entered the jacuzzi.
"She really wants some" Lira observed wisely, still focusing on her datapad, and learning diplomacy and negotiation courses.
"Well, you can always try to please one another, like kisses and stuff. It might be even fun" I replied, while busy stealing everything of value from the power armor.
"I'll give it a try. Vette seems a nice girl" Celine said, raising and walking towards the jacuzzi room. Afraid of men, but not really giving up on love...heh, this might be fun to watch.
We waited for a minute, but no screams or yelling were heard. Huh, must have worked then.
My Voices and I exchanged an amused pulse through our bond. The third Voice was not present though.
Wialu was still busy organizing her flock on Sanctuary, setting up the droids for farming, building schools and workshops and power plants and everything a new colony would need.
My planetside droids were busy building huge factories for pit droids and droideka and repulsorlift gunships.
And elsewhere in the Sanctuary system, my droids and their Gozanti cruisers were busy gathering asteroids and building a large space station and shipyards.
And as soon as I got my hands on a tri-droid starfighter, they'll begin mass-producing them.
"You will have to visit Dweem soon. Before they think again and run away" Lira spoke softly, pressing a hand lightly on her kyber crystal.
"I can't. The Emperor doesn't go on trips to recruit people. Sad thing, they will all die soon, as the Yuuzhan Vong hate synthetic beings the most." I mused, going through my future memories.
"Kriff. I'll go. If they are only half like you, they're still worth saving. And they'll make great field commanders for our droids." Lira argued, then growled a little, taking off at a run towards the door.
I smiled inward, and returned to my musings. If she went dressed in that skimpy skirt, even the Iron Knights may falter.
A pair of Justice droids floated beside her, keeping up with ease.
Hmmm. I could wear a Justice droid, and add a power armor over it.
Gain a few superpowers, and not be obvious I use the Force. Super strength, repulsor jumps, deflector shield. Maybe integrate a few Gand dischargers and light masers...
I'll have to see if tractor beams can be miniaturized for bipedal use.
Triple the power capacitors, maybe add a starfighter reactor for a power source...
Another partition drew my attention. One of the Fallanassi was a traitor, in the old timeline, and most likely this one as well.
Isela Talsava.
I checked the cruiser manifest, for her name. Not on board. Oh well, at least she wouldn't know the location of Sanctuary.
"Dora, I have a mission for you. Take a frigate and 2 corvettes for escort, and find a Fallanassi woman named Isela Talsava. She is trying to sell us out. Take a few Findsmen, and bring her to me, alive" I told the twi'lek.
"Back on Lucazec then? What should I tell her?" Dora wondered.
"Give her a diamond, and promise her a large one, the size of her head. Just to teach me a few tricks" I explained, patting her head, and building a few fake memories, while erasing the selling out part and the soul snare existence from her memories. Wouldn't do to spook the traitor when she read Dora's mind.
"I'll do my best Pef. For the Empire!" Dora proclaimed, patting her kyber crystal.
"You can promise her anything she wants Dora. We have plenty money" I added as she turned to leave.
The green twi'lek nodded and left, moving gracefully with small steps.
Vette and Celine came back an hour later, their skin flushed and radiating contentment.
"You're the best Pef! The jacuzzi was exactly like sex. Maybe even better" the blue twi'lek proclaimed, hugging my chassis with one arm.
Celine blushed and sat down on her pillow in silence.
"Less talk and more study. You won't get your Voice if you laze around. And this armor, you get it back when you know everything about orbital and planetary combat" I told Vette, as my telekinesis began dismantling her armor.
"Not fair! I worked hard for that armor" she complained, resuming her lessons with a cute growl.
"And now Lira went to fix up your mess. Oh! Cruel world, why did I have to love such a lazy woman" I declared dramatically, shaking my arms at the sky.
"Shut up defective droid. Let me study. I want that armor!" Vette muttered, while trying to focus on her datapad.
"I'll sing this song that just came to me. It's called the Reason" Celine said softly, and began singing.
Huh, some things stay the same, no matter the galaxy.